A few of us from the Conversation with Creatives Meetup started with a needs assessment survey to understand if there were any themes in what Bellingham designers needed.
We synthesized the 10 responses a few weeks later in April. We grouped anwers we got for each question. We discovered two themes in the responses:
Based on this, we created a hypothesis to test…
If we create a directory of people + skills, we can match people who want structured peer mentorship, because people will be incented/motivated to help each other meet their career + community goals.
We outlined an experiment to better surface our assumptions for organizing the peer mentorship activity.
The experiment timeline looks something like this:
| Phase | Date | Duration | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | May 3 - June 21 | 7 weeks | Distribute Sign up to people in Bellingham |
| Phase 2 | June 21 - June 28 | 1 week | Skills match |
| Phase 3 | June 28 - August 31 | 8 weeks | Mentoring/Mentee-ing |
| Phase 4 | August 31 - Sept. 7 | 1 week | Wrap up |
Phase 1: Sign up distribution
We started off taking it ourselves, and sending it to friends. Next we posted it in local tech-focused Slack and Facebook groups. Results: TBD
Phase 2: Skills match
Results: TBD
Phase 3: Mentoring/Mentee-ing
This phase involves the meat. We’ll send each participant a shortlist of which of their skills has a match + number of matches + skill level of both mentee and mentor matches. We’ll also include an invitation to meet in-person at LocalStudio for about 2 hours to make it all happen. This will likely take place in the beginning of July.
Depending on how the data works out (what the learning groups look like), we might do something cute and make cups with matching colors or something for each learning group. This way, it’s obvious who your matches are at the event.
| Once people have their group cup or necklace or whatever, here’s what we can cover while we’re gathered: |
|---|
| [5 minutes] get together and decide who will be the note taker in a Google doc or other group wiki, and make sure everyone has paper or a notebook and something to write with. |
| [15 minutes] Individual brainstorm for goals for learning your desired skill as well as goals for mentoring if applicable. Use this time to describe something achievable for applying the skill you’re learning but that you’re excited about. |
| [10 minutes] Share your goals with the group. |
| [20 minutes] As a group, discuss which learning form factors might make sense for helping each other achieve goals (1:1 coffees, working groups, project-based learning, walks) |
| [25 minutes] Discuss the following as a group: |
The goal for the exercise is to help everyone walk away with clear expectations of the time commitment for themselves and others in their group - even if that’s going for a single walk together in July.
Phase 4: Wrap up
Around August 31, we’ll send out a digital feedback form to understand how the experiment went.
We’ll have another in person get together to hang out around mid September. Anyone or group who wants can demo their learning by-product from the learning experiment. We’ll provide paper feedback forms.
Hope you’ll join us for this experiment in human learning!